Pune: After winning the toss, New Zealand had batted well in the first two sessions to reach 197/3 on Day 1 of the second Test against India. For the trained eyes, though, the scoreboard at that point belied the true nature of the pitch. Bald and tailor-made for the spinners, the numbers looked too good for the batting side.
Often on such tracks, one wicket can lead to many. The experts knew it was only a matter of time before things would start to unfold at a rapid pace.
But all eyes were on senior pros R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja to make things happen. Washington Sundar, the third spinner in the attack, was expected to dry up the runs and allow the experienced duo to attack from the other end.
When Ashwin took the first three wickets, it looked like he had put the sluggishness of Bengaluru behind him. But despite him bowling well, it was another off-spinner who stole the show.
The game did pan out as expected, wickets did fall in a cluster, NZ did lose their last seven wickets for just 62 runs but the hero of the day was a man who was not even in the original squad for the series. The Kiwis simply didn’t see Washington coming. Perhaps, no one, expect the team management, did.
The young allrounder’s first 13 overs were flat and tidy but there wasn’t much more to say about them. With Rachin Ravindra, India’s tormentor in the first Test, well entrenched on 65, captain Rohit Sharma decided to bring Washington on from the Pavilion End.
It was a decision that changed the game. The first ball after the change saw the New Zealand left-hander get behind the line and offer a forward defence, but the ball drifted in and turned just enough to spin past the blade and hit the off-stump. Like magic.
“Definitely, it was a dream ball honestly. I just wanted to keep hitting the right areas today because we expected that there would be something to offer (for the spinners). That was the only thought on my mind and obviously, things like that, when it happens, it means a lot. It’s magic,” said Washington after his most rewarding day in bowling.
It was the start of the end of New Zealand’s innings. In an unchanged spell of 10.1 overs, he picked up a further six wickets to run through the line-up of the tourists. From 197/3, New Zealand collapsed to 259 all out. His third spell read an incredible 10.1-1-28-7. As if to illustrate his strenghts, five of Washington’s victims were bowled, one lbw and one caught.
If the New Zealand team hadn’t beaten India at Bengaluru, Washington would have been preparing for Tamil Nadu’s next Ranji Trophy game against Chhattisgarh. To call him up into the squad was an inspired decision. The allrounder vindicated the trust with a seven-wicket haul, his best figures in first-class cricket, matching Ashwin’s 7/59. For the first time in India’s Test history, all 10 wickets were claimed by off-spinners.
Sharing how special the last four days have been for him, the allrounder said: “Everything that happened today was pleasing. Right from the start, getting to play this game, getting to make a comeback to the Test squad, getting to play in the XI. There are a lot of things that I can say which mean a lot to me and which are very special. I’m really grateful for the day. I don’t think I’ll ever forget this day, but yeah, it was a great opportunity for me to play the Tamil Nadu-Delhi (Ranji Trophy) game. It’s good to be playing red-ball every now and then and keep getting the rhythm in red-ball, both with the bat and ball, going and be consistent with it. And I think the fact that I got to bowl a lot of overs in that game definitely helped.”
Washington had last played a Test for India in March 2021 but two days before the game, the team management let him know that he would be in the playing XI. It was the boost of confidence the youngster from Tamil Nadu needed.
Talking about the adjustment during his third spell, Washington said: “The ball obviously became very soft. So, we had to sort of give more speed into the ball, more body into the ball. That was something me and Ash (R Aswhin) kept talking about. That’s how he got (Devon) Conway out as well. So, we spoke about it and glad I was able to do it.”
When New Zealand’s last wicket fell, dark clouds had already formed over the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium and India were left to negotiate a tricky 40-minute period of play. For the second time in the series the New Zealand pacers now had favourable conditions to bowl in. Tim Southee, who has made a career of exploiting such conditions, produced the perfect away swinger to open up India captain Rohit Sharma and hit the off-stump. Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal survived the remaining overs as India were 16/1 at close of stumps.
